Gerard Depardieu's move to Belgium to apparently avoid France's wealth taxes has been dubbed "pathetic" by the French Prime Minister.

Jean-Marc Ayrault criticised the actor's decision to buy a home in Belgium - which does not have a wealth tax - close to the border with France.

"Going just over the border, I find that fairly pathetic. Being a Frenchman means loving your country and helping it to get back on its feet," Mr Ayrault told France 2 television.

Depardieu has become the latest wealthy Frenchman after luxury magnate Bernard Arnault to look for shelter outside his native country following a series of tax increases by socialist President Francois Hollande.

The Cyrano De Bergerac star bought a house in the village of Nechin where 27% of the population is made up of French nationals, local mayor Daniel Senesael told reporters.

Image Caption:The actor is believed to have bought this house in Belgium

He added that Depardieu also enquired about procedures for acquiring Belgian residency.

Belgian residents do not pay wealth tax, which, starting at a rate of 0.25%, is now slapped on individuals in France with assets over 1.3m euros. Nor do Belgians pay capital gains tax on share sales.

France has also imposed a 75% tax on incomes exceeding one million euros.

The tax hikes have been welcomed by left-wingers who say the rich must do more to help redress the public finances, but attacked by some wealthy personalities and foreign critics, who say they will increase tax flight and dampen investment.

Depardieu's move comes three months after Mr Arnault, the chief executive of luxury giant LVMH, caused an uproar by seeking to establish residency in Belgium - a move he said was not motivated by tax reasons.

The left-leaning Liberation daily paper reacted with a front page headline next to a photograph of Mr Arnault telling him to "Get lost, you rich jerk", prompting luxury advertisers including LVMH to withdraw their advertisements.

Mr Ayrault said he did not support the idea floated by some socialist MPs to withdraw French nationality from people who sought residency abroad to lighten their tax bill.